PAUL writes in his epistle to the Romans, "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." Our debt to our brother, then, is to love him truly, sincerely, unselfishly; and that involves seeing him as he really is, the reflection of God, infinite good. In paying this debt we comply with the law of Love.
One may be kind to another, treat him considerately and supply his temporal needs; but while this shows forth a proper sense of human obligation, it may not always be the expression of divine Love, which is also divine Principle. Truly to love our brother is to see him as God sees him —"perfect and entire, wanting nothing;" to know him as God knows him —the spiritual likeness of divine Mind, expressing in his individual way all the divine qualities—the perfection of being. Such loving will help to lift from our brother the burden of condemnation, discouragement, and helplessness which false belief may have seemed to place upon him.
Often the easiest way to express a human sense of love and consideration is to give those who appear to be in want the material things they seem to need; but this may not be entirely in accordance with Principle, and, if not, the result will be of no lasting benefit to the recipient. The only thing that will help permanently to heal our brother's sense of lack is the understanding that in his true spiritual selfhood he reflects, here and now, the unchanging affluence of his heavenly Father, divine Mind. Therefore, to withhold a material gift may, in some instances, express more real love than would be expressed by bestowing it.
